Greece's ruling Conservatives win vote but fall short of majority

FILE PHOTO: Greek Prime Minister and conservative New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis and leftist Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras, take part in a televised debate at the headquarters of the state broadcaster ERT, in Athens, Greece, May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece's ruling New Democracy party stormed to a crushing victory in a parliamentary election on Sunday but fell just short of the threshold needed to form a government on its own, making a runoff election in a month more likely.

With most votes counted, conservative New Democracy took a commanding lead of 40.8%, trouncing the radical leftist Syriza, which governed from 2015 to 2019, which polled 20.1%.